Numpty with rope sealer

Ru88ell

Ru88ell

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After years of use my trusty rope sealer / storm lighter ran out of fuel. I bought some lighter fuel and refilled it, and it doesn't work. Confused, I took to t'internet and realised that I might actually have needed butane, not ordinary lighter fuel. Doh!

Question: do you think it will work if I drain the lighter fuel out, leave open for a few hours, then refill with butane?

Or, should I just admit to screwing it up and buy a new one?
 
Ru88ell said:
After years of use my trusty rope sealer / storm lighter ran out of fuel. I bought some lighter fuel and refilled it, and it doesn't work. Confused, I took to t'internet and realised that I might actually have needed butane, not ordinary lighter fuel. Doh!

Question: do you think it will work if I drain the lighter fuel out, leave open for a few hours, then refill with butane?

Or, should I just admit to screwing it up and buy a new one?
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learn to whipp the rope ends for a real pro job ;)
 
Fuel

What do you mean by "lighter fuel"? do you mean a gas canister (sealed bottle) or a petrol can (liquid with an open nozzle), difficult to believe that you got any petrol into a lighter designed for gas. Normal gas lighter fuel will be butane or propane or a mixture of both. All should be OK in a gas lighter, if it is not working look for something else. Petrol lighters have a container with cotton wool or something to keep the petrol sloshing around, and you could not put gas into a petrol lighter anyway.
 
I had a similar problem a while back; after filling my Dremmel gas iron it refused to light. Eventually I tried turning the flow rate down to half way and hey presto it lit first time.
 
dmayes said:
What do you mean by "lighter fuel"? do you mean a gas canister (sealed bottle) or a petrol can (liquid with an open nozzle), difficult to believe that you got any petrol into a lighter designed for gas. Normal gas lighter fuel will be butane or propane or a mixture of both. All should be OK in a gas lighter, if it is not working look for something else. Petrol lighters have a container with cotton wool or something to keep the petrol sloshing around, and you could not put gas into a petrol lighter anyway.
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I bought something labelled as 'lighter fuel' which has a thin nozzle, but it doesn't seem to be under pressure. It was only £1.50. In the small print it says 'petrol'.

The thin nozzle did fit the valve, but there was leakage.
 
if, somehow, you have filled the lighter with petrol or other non-gaseous hydrocarbon, then it needs to be drained. Hold it upside down, press the lever, and blow into the filling orifice.

The liquid fuel should flow out, but it will be hazardous. When empty, refill with butane or one of the other LPG mixtures. If you really wanted to flush the tanklet, then I suppose you could just hold the lever down till the tank is empty, then refill. Hardly necessary IMHO.


They heat sealers are jolly good and useful devices, even when doing the proper whippings.
 
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You have put lighter 'petrol' in a gas lighter. Ordinary lighter gas would have done fine. That was quite an acheivement :)

I don't think you will get the petrol out. If you fill it with gas then that may act as a propellent and send spurts out of the jet. This has the potential for being very dangerous IMO. It would be worth filling it with gas and then releasing the gas without igniting it. That might flush it out.
 
Petrol? ... give it a good shake, flick it open and light it from another source ... it won't be any good for sealing your rope ends but it won't half get rid of the hairs poking out of your nose!
 
MoodySabre said:
You have put lighter 'petrol' in a gas lighter. Ordinary lighter gas would have done fine. That was quite an acheivement :)

I don't think you will get the petrol out. If you fill it with gas then that may act as a propellent and send spurts out of the jet. This has the potential for being very dangerous IMO. It would be worth filling it with gas and then releasing the gas without igniting it. That might flush it out.
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I think your right in as much as the op has attempted to refill a "gas" lighter with a liquid lighter fuel.
Id doubt very much if has got any significant quantity in .. you can only do it from a pressurised can.

If I was him I would simply buy a can of butane lighter fuel and fill as normal.
Use with caution until it is established that there is no problem caused by the attempt to fill with a liquid fuel
 
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whipping twine is much cheaper any sailor worth his salt should be able to finish his lines in a workman manner
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Yeah, right - do you bother putting whipping on the ends of flag halliards, or dodger lacing? Whipping is great on larger ropes, wouldn't do without it, but really not worthwhile on thinner stuff. The tradition of whipping as a finish for cut lines goes back to before the days when heat-sealing was possible - what matters is that something is done to stop the cut ends coming unravelled.
 
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greenalien said:
Yeah, right - do you bother putting whipping on the ends of flag halliards, or dodger lacing? Whipping is great on larger ropes, wouldn't do without it, but really not worthwhile on thinner stuff. The tradition of whipping as a finish for cut lines goes back to before the days when heat-sealing was possible - what matters is that something is done to stop the cut ends coming unravelled.
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I agree. I have proper whippings on all the lines on board and even went through a sad stage of matching the colour of the whipping to the line...

However even when doing whippings I often heat seal the end of the line over a little as well. I also usually melt the whipping line knot onto itself (at least the bit that hasn't disappeared into the whipping!)

However far better then those kitchen lighter devices is a turbo lighter like this:http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_r=03N5Y329BR0S7T3VP790

I have had one on board for years. Thy work really well and have a very intense jet like flame that is easily directed. For less heat just hold it further away.
 
sarabande said:
if, somehow, you have filled the lighter with petrol or other non-gaseous hydrocarbon, then it needs to be drained. Hold it upside down, press the lever, and blow into the filling orifice.
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98-FIRE-EATER.jpg


:)
 
greenalien said:
Yeah, right - do you bother putting whipping on the ends of flag halliards, or dodger lacing? Whipping is great on larger ropes, wouldn't do without it, but really not worthwhile on thinner stuff. The tradition of whipping as a finish for cut lines goes back to before the days when heat-sealing was possible - what matters is that something is done to stop the cut ends coming unravelled.
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so you cant whipp then :)
 
so you cant whipp then
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Actually, I really enjoy whipping - looks good and very theraputic - but life's too short for pointlessly wasting time doing it on small lines that are better off being heat-sealed. Here's a pic of my mooring lines...

View attachment 19899

far better then those kitchen lighter devices is a turbo lighter
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Those BBQ lighters do have turbo flames - they're like a mini-blowtorch! And, unlike with a lighter, you can light stuff that's awkward to reach without burning your fingers!
 
Ru88ell said:
I bought something labelled as 'lighter fuel' which has a thin nozzle, but it doesn't seem to be under pressure. It was only £1.50. In the small print it says 'petrol'.

The thin nozzle did fit the valve, but there was leakage.
Click to expand...

Got to be a troll. No one can be that dim! :D
 
sarabande said:
... heat sealers are jolly good and useful devices, even when doing the proper whippings.
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Synthetic rope needs to be heat sealed, but you don't have to buy an expensive gas tool to do it, one of these is perfect. I've got both, but often used the iron for preference.

I like the look of whipping, but I confess that I've recently used heat-shrink on all my lines.
 
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